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2018 IndyCar Series
The 2018 IndyCar Series season will be the 107th season of American open wheel racing and the 23rd under this name. Captains This list is confirmed captains of the 2018 IndyCar Series for every race. Drivers Changes *Nidoking will now coach Honduras. The Honduras national IndyCar team will decline in the 2018 season with Matheus Leist as their driver, after Hélio Castroneves moved to IMSA full-time in 2018. *Pee Saderd changed his number from 27 to 98 in 2018. Saderd and Andretti had been using the car 27 for the last three seasons. *Metagross and Saderd did a number switch prior to the Swiss Open. *Larvesta was announced as the no.14 AJ Foyt Racing car. Larvesta originally planned a move to IMSA if Kanaan was announced as an IMSA driver. *Volcarona, Evolution of Larvesta, was announced as the no.7 driver of Robert Wickens. *Jonathan Bald moved from Dale Coyne Racing to Chip Ganassi Racing. *Hélio Castroneves was announced by Roger Penske on October 4, 2017 that Castroneves will move to the Penske Acura DPi team with Juan Pablo Montoya. *The team will have only three full-time entries for Newgarden, Power and Pagenaud; and Castroneves will drive their fourth car for the Month of May. *After Hélio Castroneves' move was announced, Pee Saderd signed a contract with Marco Andretti and Andretti Autosport through 2023. *Due to his October 1972 birth, Pee Saderd originally announced a move from Andretti Autosport's IndyCar team to Team Penske's IMSA team in 2018, but declined. *Abomasnow will broadcast both IndyCar Series and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Abomasnow had started to broadcast instead after DWTS season 23. *Musicians Pee Saderd and Joey Fatone become Andretti Autosport teammates, with Saderd being four years and three months older (October 19, 1972 to January 28, 1977). One of the January 28, 1977 of Takuma Sato or Joey Fatone continued to be teammates with Saderd. *Mario Lopez moved from Carlos Muñoz in 2017 to Gabby Chaves. This is Chaves' first full-time IndyCar season since 2015. *Apolo Anton Ohno moved from Andretti Autosport to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Ohno previously drove for the team in 2012, before becoming a DWTS season 15 participant with Hélio Castroneves. **Jirayu La-ongmanee joined the IndyCar Series and the team after his participation in The Mask Singer. **La-ongmanee missed Phoenix, Long Beach and Barber because of a knee injury. The team said he was expected to be back at the IndyCar Grand Prix. *Joey Fatone returned to IndyCar after missing the last four races in 2017, now driving with Zach Veach. *Spencer Pigot replaced JR Hildebrand in the 21 for 2018, with Pidgeot now coaching Pigot, due to it being nearly the same name. *Ueli Kestenholz and Chespin switched to Carlin for the 2018 season. *Jack Harvey will race for some races including the Indy 500. *Tristan Gommendy originally planned to run the Indy 500 with sponsors from Calmels Racing. *Volcarona's original number was 7, and now 6, since 6 is the first number of Volcarona's National Pokedex number, 637. The numbers 7 and 6 are in Volcarona's national Pokedex number. **Volcarona isn't considered a rookie, however Robert Wickens is. *On May 4, 2018, Pietro Fittipaldi was injured in a sports car crash in Spa, Belgium that ruled him out of the Indy GP, the 500 and Texas. **Fittipaldi made an early return to IndyCar at Mid-Ohio; many thought he would only play the Feud season. *JR Hildebrand, Carlos Muñoz and Hélio Castroneves, who all qualified for the 2017 Swiss Open - Men's Singles seedings, are Indy-only drivers. *Jay Howard returned to the no.7 entry that originally was driven by Volcarona at first. *Danica Patrick was announced as an Indy 500 driver, thus making her return to IndyCar racing for the first time since 2011. Her final race will be with Ed Carpenter Racing. *James Davison returned to IndyCar driving the 33 in the Indy 500. *Robert Wickens suffered spinal injuries at Pocono and thus ruled out of every remaining IndyCar and Celebrity Family Feud event until the 2018 Swiss Open, where Wickens was placed into the entry list with a protected ranking. *As Gabby Chaves was entered for the 2018 Bommarito Automotive Group 500, Volcarona will replace Tanont Chumroen for the last three races. *Carlos Muñoz replaced Robert Wickens in the no.6 car for both Portland and Sonoma; he had replaced Ryan Briscoe at Toronto in 2013. Races The 2018 IndyCar Series has the exact same schedule as 2017, with Watkins Glen replaced by Portland. The Barber race had to be postponed to Monday due to rain on Sunday with only 22 laps complete. It was IndyCar's first postponed race since Pocono in 2016. Changes *The Portland race replaces Watkins Glen for the first time since 2007. *The race for Phoenix is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Mario Andretti's last win of his racing career in 1993. It was used on Pee Saderd's no.98 entry in Phoenix; by the time Mario Andretti won his name wasn't Pee Saderd yet. *IndyCar rumoured for a Mexico City race that was scheduled to be August 3-5 weekend, however on November 30, 2017, it didn't happen. As a result of no Mexico race, the BATC Cup at the 2018 Mississauga Thailand Grand Festival will happen as a result. *The Grand Prix of Long Beach extends their contract until 2023. The Long Beach extension until 2023 is the same contract Pee Saderd had during the 2017 Petit Le Mans race. *The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama had a rain-affected race for the first time since 2014. Trivia Category:2018 in sports Category:2018 in the United States Category:2018 in Canada